Resurrection
by Aochan23
Summary: Nelliel saves the few survivors still alive in Las Noches after Ichigo and the shinigami leave. But what happens once the arrancar wake up? Read to find out! Rated M for language and mature themes (eventually), mostly canon, but will probably end up OOC. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

Dizziness. Her head was spinning as she awoke from the slumber she was in. A warm breeze blew through her green locks, brushing against her skin. It felt nice, calm...until the faint smell of death carried in the wind reached her nostrils. She tried to open her eyes, but only saw dimly shaped, blurry shadows of her surroundings, and gave up. On a second attempt she managed a half open glimpse at the scenery, the edges of the shadows gradually sharpening into people and landscape. Something wasn't right. Why did her head hurt so much? Why was there blood on her newly tattered clothes? Where was Itsugo?

Something caught her eyes. A sudden movement, blood spilling, a metallic clashing sound, swords crossing, a grin that was supposed to be there but wasn't, a missing vulgar remark, the absence of an obscene laugh… a fallen warrior.

"Nnoi... tra?"

She watched a limp, lifeless body fall forward onto the battlefield, the same breeze making a black mane come alive. A violet eye was fixed on her, filled with need and, paradoxically, contentment. For a moment time seemed to slow down and almost stop. With a quiet thud and shifting of sand, she saw him finally hit the ground, blood pooling beneath,, permeating the sand. A feeling of drowsiness crept up on her, pulling her back into the slumber she had just awoken from. It was futile to fight it, but she tried, she needed to make sure everyone was okay. Sleep wasn't an option right now, she had to get up. Her body felt heavy, too tired to move. The deep slumber won, languidly pulling her into a profound stupor, her eyes closing again, and drifted off into the soothing darkness.

"Nnoitra."

* * *

"NEEEEELL!"

Rough hands shook her awake as a strange sound, a loud mix of crying, sobbing and screaming attacked her eardrums. She scrunched her face and screwed her eyes tightly shut, obviously irritated at the harsh treatment.

"Waaah..!"

Words tried to come out but only turned into an intelligible whine. The beating she'd taken from fighting, passing out and being woken up, coupled with the continued rattling wouldn't let her focus on the most basic of sentences. Once the lingering drowsiness wore off and she heard clearly what the offending noise was, she let her eyelids pop open. Dondochakka yelled incoherently and held her by her tiny shoulders, still trying to shake her back to life, oblivious to her open eyes, or her head bobbing back and forth so hard that her neck might snap. Pesche, on the other hand, was throwing a tantrum behind Dondochakka, stuck somewhere between sobbing and panicking over her imagined death. Not knowing how to make any of it stop, Nell broke out in tears.

"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL NEEEEEEELL!? WHAT DID NELL EVER DO TO YOUUUU!?"

The shaking stopped. Two pairs of flabbergasted eyes fixed on her, and then the two arrancars closed down on her in a crushing hug.

"WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"WE'RE SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE ALIVE"

"CAN'T… BREATHE!"

"NOOO! WHY NOT?"

"DON'T DIE! YOU JUST CAME BACK TO LIFE!"

After a few more seconds of loud bickering and suffocation, a cloud of pink smoke exploded and sent Pesche and Dondochakka flying backwards. In the middle of it stood Nelliel Tu Odelshwank, no longer in a child's body. Happy to see that her fraccion were mostly unharmed, she pulled them both back into a hug. Having got her body back and being so easily squashed was a relief though.

"I'm so happy you're okay!"

Tears flowing freely and relieved exclamations echoed under Aizen's fake sun. Once the excitement settled, they looked around to analyse the situation. Ichigo and the rest of the group were gone, the only ones left being the defeated espada.

"So what do we do now?"

"Aizen's gone, the shinigami are gone, every one of the espada is dead…"

"Not all…"

Dondochakka and Pesche stared at her, scared at the prospect of yet another battle.

"Is Ichigo still here?"

"They went back to the world of the living to fight Aizen" - Pesche replied - "That guy sure likes his arrows…"

"That's Ishida." - Dondochakka chipped in.

"He said his name was Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Then he lied to you."

"I knew that shinigami was a bad guy. You liar, curse you, Kurosaki Ichigo!"

A glimpse of happiness shined in Nelliel's tan eyes as she watched the two of them continue their argument. It felt good to be back with her friends and to have her memories back. It reminded her of the time when she was an espada herself, and everything seemed to fall into place naturally.

"We need to heal the survivors."

She stood and started walking towards the spot where an unconscious Grimmjow lied.

"Survivors?"

"I thought they were all dead."

"Tesla and Grimmjow are still alive." - She didn't turn back as she spoke - "Barely."

Their reiatsu was faint, no more than a trace, but it was there and she had to heal them. Tesla had no real blame in the fight and didn't deserve to die, and Ichigo would not be happy if he found out that she let the sexta espada die when she could have saved him. And anyway, he had brought Orihime to heal Ichigo when he was almost dead. However, she kept her pesquisa from searching in Nnoitra's direction. A small part wanted him to be alive, but it was easier if he was dead. But what if he wasn't? She didn't want to deal with that possibility.

Pesche and Dondochakka exchanged a quick look and stood, not daring to ask about the quinta espada, who they had noticed was hangin on a thin line between life and death.

"Che, Dondochakka, you go and get Grimmjow, I'll take Tesla." - Pesche announced gleefully.

"Eeeeh? Why me? What if he wakes up and tries to fight me?"

"You will win the fight!"

"But he's scary!"

"We are the fraccion of Nelliel Tu Odelshwank! We don't get to be scared!"

Dondochakka groaned and lowered his head, following Nelliel while Pesche walked towards Tesla's unconscious body. Lost in her thoughts, Nelliel was out of earshot and couldn't hear Dondochakka calling her name. The question was burning a hole through her mind, was Nnoitra alive? Did he survive Kenpachi's attack? It was just curiosity, she repeated inwardly, but believing that was proving to be a difficult task. Something in her chest stirred painfully, aching if only to check whether the quinta espada's heart was still beating.

Trying to occupy her mind, she quickened her pace and reached Grimmjow, leaning beside him to examine the damage. A lot of cuts, scrapes and bruises. His uniform wouldn't make it though, not that it was essential to his survival. What the sexta espada needed most of all was rest, his wounds would heal naturally as long as he didn't strain himself too much. She snickered, realising that it would be easier said than done. With no effort, she lifted his body over her shoulder and turned back towards her fraccion.

"Is he alive?" - Dondochakka inquired, a bit out of breath from the run.

"Yes. He just needs to sleep it off." - She replied with a sweet smile.

Dondochakka reached his arms to take the passed out espada, Nelliel tilting her shoulder to make it easier. They walked in silence, observing what was left of Las Noches after the battles, buildings torn apart and holes in the ceiling, revealing the night sky of Huecco Mundo. But this was good, Aizen was gone and now they might be able to start over and go back to the good old times. When they made their way to Pesche, the fraccion was carrying a bleeding Tesla in his arms.

"He's in really bad shape."

"You sure he's alive? He doesn't even look to be in one piece, ne?" - His eyes brimming with curiosity, scrutinizing Tesla's face closely.

"Not for long, he's about to bleed out."

Another reiatsu made itself known. Barely alive, Nelliel felt a small flare coming from Nnoitra's direction. He was still alive. She could leave him there and hope he'd bleed out, not having to deal with him if he didn't wake up. But a voice in the back of her head wouldn't let her. It screamed, begging for her to take the tall espada back with them and heal him. She sighed and turned around, glaring at the unconscious body.

"What is it?" - Pesche noticed her distraction.

"Take them back inside, to the meeting room." - With a heavy heart she decided to see at least the state Nnoitra was in - "There should be enough space for everyone there."

Dondochakka and Pesche exchanged a quick look, and once they realised where Nell was going panic set in.

"You're not bringing Nnoitra-sama back, are you?"

"He almost killed all of us."

"And cracked your mask"

"And kicked us out of Las Noches."

They pleaded, trying to change her mind to no avail, her steady path unchanged.

"Go on, I'll be right there"

As she walked on she could hear Pesche and Dondochakka bickering and arguing what would happen once Grimmjow and Nnoitra woke up. They seemed fine with Tesla, the fraccion limited his functions to following his master around and wasn't violent in the least, unless it involved protecting the quinta espada, which always got him into trouble afterwards. However, Grimmjow would not be happy once he realised he lost and Ichigo was gone, and would probably try to kill them all out of rage. And Nnoitra… well, Nnoitra had already tried to kill them, so unless he came up with a more creative way of doing that, it wouldn't be anything new. Still, the two fraccion weren't happy with the idea, suggesting that they should either leave him there or as far away from the palace as possible.

Nelliel chuckled softly, her fraccion worried too much. She would protect them and she was more than capable of defeating both of the unconscious espada easily, after all, she had been the tercera espada, and they were fifth and sixth. As she approached the quinta espada her pace slowed down and her heart pounded louder. Weary of the situation she approached him, her eyes slitted into a serious frown, and bent down at his side to examine him. There were deep cuts everywhere and judging by the dark, cracked pool of blood beneath him, he was on the brink of death. Her eyes roamed the slender figure, now lying defenseless in front of her, and stopped at a closed eye. Not completely sure of her decision, she decided to just get it over it, and swiftly reached out her arms to swing him over her shoulder. Despite his monstrous stature, Nnoitra wasn't all that heavy to carry, and considering her strength she barely had to make any effort at all.

Rather than using her sonido to get back, she decided to walk, not in the mood to hear her friends commenting on her recklessness. Mainly because it was true, it was a reckless idea, if not downright stupid, to bring back such a belligerent character back with them. And it was even worse that her intention was to revive the man. He wouldn't be happy in the least, but then again, she was saving his life, even _he_ had to have some sort of decency to at least recognize that this was for his own good. Her worrying was interrupted by her stomach growling, demanding something to eat, and focused on that, strands of black hair brushing on her skin as she walked home.

* * *

Finally! It didn't look like such a long walk when she started. Maybe she just wasn't used to it anymore, but carrying a deadweight, unconscious body under a bright, warm sun wasn't exactly fun. She carefully laid out Nnoitra on the floor, a few feet away from Grimmjow and Tesla and let her tan eyes gleam over them, usually three proud warriors (at least Grimmjow and Tesla), now disheveled and with one foot on the grave. Pesche, who was surprisingly good at doctoring, had already taken care of Tesla, who was in dire need of stitching and closing up his deep wound. All the blonde needed now was rest. Grimmjow hadn't needed much in terms of first aid, mainly cleaning up wounds, some bandaging, but mostly he just needed rest to allow his body to recover fully. Reluctantly Pesche got to work on Nnoitra while a panicked Dondochakka loomed around, voicing dreadful thoughts as Pesche tried to convince both of them that everything would be fine and that they had to do as Nell asked, which the larger fraccion couldn't argue with.

A few days later, Harribel and her three fraccion returned to the palace, surprised to find such an odd group together. Her stay was brief, having only enough time for Nell to inform her of the situation, the state of the three arrancar and what had happened. In turn, Harribel told her about the battle in the world of the living and Aizen's defeat, startling Nell and her fraccion, since none of them even remotely considered that a possibility. After a few pleasantries and some bickering amongst their fracciones, the current tercera espada announced that she and her fraccion would be leaving to train, and promptly made their way into the night desert.

Staying behind at the palace, Nell, Pesche and Dondochakka took turns checking on the state of the healing survivors, never staying for long, instead playing games around Las Noches. They were happy as they were, and once the espada woke, they would have to figure out what to do. Not that it would be a soul crushing event, but they wanted to cherish those few days of peace and calm before worrying about survival again, as they had been doing for the past few years.

Nell sat reading one of her books on the table placed in the centre of the room. It had already been a week since Ichigo left and since they rescued Tesla, Grimmjow and Nnoitra. Other than a few mumbled curses in their sleep, there had been little activity from the three men. Although they would all wake up and live on, since Nell had been using her saliva to make the process faster, and it indeed helped a lot. She would use her time there to read and day dream about what would happen after they regained consciousness, nevertheless, she didn't have high hopes for the outcome. Grimmjow would be angry, Nnoitra would still be Nnoitra and Tesla would do exactly what his master said, which meant that she would probably have to fight them all. Her only hope was that it wouldn't be at the same time. She eyed the sexta espada from the corner of her eye, her curiosity sparking.

Tired of reading, she closed her book and placed it on the table to approach Grimmjow. Why would that man have insisted so ardently on a fair fight with Ichigo? None of the other espada would have, yet he went against Ulquiorra just to make sure it would happen the way he wanted. She crouched beside his figure and brushed a blue strand of hair out of his face, smiling sweetly at his perpetually frowning semblance. Not willing to admit it, she enjoyed watching him, mainly because he talked during his sleep and she found his random arguments with himself hilarious. Chuckling at his latest rowe, something to do with Aaroniero and a ball of yarn from what she had gathered, she brushed his hair into place and mouthed a quiet "thank you", grateful that it was him who first fought Ichigo, and straightened herself up before leaving the room to find her loyal fraccion.

* * *

His body felt stiff, blunt pain coursing through it. Grimmjow grunted with his eyes still shut, not particularly happy at the prospect of waking up. But he was lying on something cold and hard, and trading that in for his bed was far too appealing to put it off, even if it meant getting up. He grunted in annoyance and pushed himself off the floor to sit up, a sharp pain on the side of his torso making itself known. Once his head stopped spinning and his eyelids bothered to open up, he looked around. " _What the hell am I doin' here?_ " he thought to himself, confused as to his current whereabouts. Finally he realised it was Aizen's meeting room. Why he was there, though, remained a mystery. And why were Tesla and Nnoitra lying there as well was another.

Too injured to think straight, he ran a hand to wipe his face and brush his hair, only to discover that he was covered head to toes in something wet and sticky. His blue eyes shot open, something between panic and disgust consuming him. His muscles stiffened, trying not to touch anything and quite revolted at the sticky substance on his skin. Bringing a hand up to examine it closer it looked like… saliva? A shiver shot through his spine.

"WHAT. THE. HELL!?"

His rough voice reverberated through the halls of Las Noches, reaching Nelliel. She cocked her head and smiled, cheerful that the sexta espada was finally up.


	2. Chapter 2

Pesche and Dondochakka froze, interrupting their game of chess, a panicked grin plastered across both their faces. Grimmjow had just woken up and was likely leaving a path of destruction in his search for them. The only one who seemed happy about the sexta espada's revival was Nell, who closed the book in her hand and smiled, expectant of a grand entrance. She and the fraccion had been spending their time on the flat roof above the building, underneath the sun which, despite being fake, was surprisingly warm. Nothing disturbed the silence beneath the daylight dome that Aizen had built. Well, nothing until Grimmjow woke up, screaming and cursing at the top of his lungs.

"This was a bad, bad idea Pesche."

"We should have just left him there."

"But then he would have woken up anyway."

"And he would be even angrier because we didn't help."

Nelliel found it amusing when her friends got into this mood, maybe because her soft and sweet demeanor didn't reflect her strength in the least. It was indeed difficult to see her as a powerful beast having the smile that she had, especially for the two fraccion, who were used to her childlike form, which made Nell look like even less of a threat. While Pesche and Dondochakka panicked, Nell chuckled softly as she watched them. The walls and the floor trembled, Grimmjow would probably be in a state of blind anger, devastating whatever hallway he happened to be in at the moment. Every once in a while a scream calling for Ichigo followed by a strand of curses echoed in the otherwise uninterrupted silence of Las Noches. Gradually the echoing became clearer, and the tremors on the building became sharper. The sexta espada was closing in on them. His reiatsu was still a far cry of what it had once been, but that didn't mean he wouldn't put up a good fight. The fraccion took their stances, but they knew it would be a difficult fight; a wounded Grimmjow was still strong enough to go up against both of them without a second thought.

A shadow appeared on the doorway that led to the terrace they had been in and the hollering stopped. The shadow stepped forward into the light, revealing the proud silhouette of the sexta espada out of breath.

"What the…?"

Nelliel slouched back against the wall she'd been leaning on and smiled, observing the blue haired figure sweetly. The blue, disheveled mane framed his perpetual frown, now stained with a semblance of exhaustion. A drop of sweat dripped down his forehead, a wound freshly reopened spewed blood and his chest fluttered heavily. Against all odds, Grimmjow stopped and looked at them and paused, puzzled, pondering.

"I'm glad you're awake" - Nell said cheerfully.

The sexta's eyes shifted in her direction, wearily.

"You're... You're…" - He tried to look for her name, realising he had no idea who that green-haired girl was - "Who the fuck are ya?"

Nell chuckled. Grimmjow had only seen her in her child form, of course he wouldn't recognise her, however, Pesche took it upon himself to announce her.

"This is Nelliel Tu Odelschwank, tercera espada" - His bravery didn't last long before his voice started quivering - "You should have more respect, she will crush you instantly if you speak to her like that again."

Pesche all but whimpered the last bit of the sentence and gulped as he finished talking. Grimmjow didn't seem to pay much attention to any of what he said, focusing instead on the girl, who seemed to be categorically stronger than the other two arrancars.

"You were with Ichigo, ain't ya?" - Grimmjow brushed his fingers through his hair, trying to place her.

"Yep" - she smiled, satisfied that he'd remembered her.

"Why aren't ya a kid no more?"

"Umm..." - Nell searched for a way to explain what Nnoitra did to her and why she had reverted back to her adult form when Ichigo fought past his limit to protect her, in vain - "Long story."

"Huh…" - Grimmjow relaxed and straightened himself - "Where is that orange bitch anyway?"

"He's gone" - Dondochakka interrupted promptly.

"Huh?" - A spike of angry reiatsu flared from Grimmjow - "Tha fuck ya mean with tha', you spotted idiot?"

"They're not spots, they're POLKA DOTS, ne?"

"I. DON'T. CARE." - Grimmjow turned to face Dondochakka directly - "Ima go and kill Ichigo, and you 're goin' to tell me where he is."

Glaring blue eyes stared at a terrified Dondochakka who desperately tried to maintain his composure in vain, as his hands trembled slightly at the thought of fighting the disarrayed warrior in front of him.

"He's been gone for days." - Nell calmly resumed speaking - "He went to fight Aizen in the world of the living and hasn't come back."

An uncomfortable silence took ahold of the moment. None of them had even thought it would come to that. And even if it did, they'd all seen Aizen's power, none of them stood a chance at winning a one on one battle against him. Ichigo would put up a good fight, but his power didn't compare to the former captain's. While Ichigo was a gentle and caring soul, Aizen was scheming, devious and cold-hearted. The polar opposite to the the seventeen year old shinigami.

"Hmm." - Grimmjow pondered in silence. - "So wha' happened to everyone?" Why's Nnoitra and Tesla lyin' there?"

If Ichigo wasn't around he might as well find someone else to pick a fight with while he figured out how to find the shinigami and finally kill him. Unsure of whether he wanted the boy dead or not, he wanted that battle desperately, the need to meet him again burned a hole in his insides with need.

"Nnoitra and Tesla are still recovering from the battle, the other espada that were left behind are dead, Harribel and her fraccion are training in the desert, Aizen is dead, Barragan and Stark are both dead." - Nelliel paused, a bit disheartened at the thought of such a colossal evolution they would all be obligated to go through - "We're the only ones left alive."

They all went silent. Being aware that they would have to start over and rebuild what once was the home to some of the most formidable warriors in their world seemed daunting to say the least. What would happen now? Would they all go back to the old days with no law and no order? Kill or be killed, a perpetual struggle to survive where the strong thrived and the weak perished in agonising pain.

"Well, tha' sucks." - All trace of worry disappeared from Grimmjow's expression, making for a rather bored frown, followed by a yawn as he turned around to leave, no longer interested in any of the events that had taken place in the past few days. Three pairs of eyes fixated on him as he halted abruptly.

"One more thing, why am I covered in… whatever this is? What the fuck is this?"

He stuck out his arm to point out the thin layer of slime covering his skin. Nell chuckled at the sexta's irked frown, she'd forgotten that in an effort to speed up his recovery she had used her own saliva and he probably didn't appreciate waking up the sticky mess that he was.

"Oh, haha, my saliva has healing properties so I used it to make you better" - Nell cackled with a playfully mischievous smile while Grimmjow's lips contorted into a grin of disgust.

"So….I'm covered in yer spit?"

"Pretty much."

The sexta espada shivered and, with a robot-like, disgusted movement, turned on his heels making his way back to his own quarters as he tried to shake off the half dried slimy coating. Pesche and Dondochakka exchanged a quick look, astonished at how well that went. They expected a hurricane of rage and destruction but were met instead with a surprisingly rational, albeit disinterested Grimmjow. Neither Nell or her fraccion felt like doing much after the short meeting, after a glimpse of the reality they had yet to face started sinking in. The former tercera espada stood and followed Grimmjow's steps, heading towards the meeting room to check on the two unconscious arrancar still lying there while her fraccion stayed behind to resume their chess match.

* * *

Nell always enjoyed the palace when it was this quiet. The cool breeze blowing through her green locks with the sun casting razor sharp shadows along the corridors on one side, and the white moonlight beaming on the other. Eyes closed, she took a deep breath as she descended down the stairs leading into the ominous room. She let her hand gently roam over the tabletop while she strolled towards the two men resting on the floor, though her mind was somewhere far away from that place. Somewhere with Ichigo, and the shinigami captain that had come to their rescue. She stopped walking and let her tan eyes drift down to gaze at the slender figure lying at her feet. A figure that belonged to the man who had tried to kill her more times than she could count. With a wistful sigh she shuffled and crouched beside the blonde fraccion laying by his master's side.

His wounds were healing nicely, but he still wasn't out of the woods. A deep scar parted his body in half, threatening to open and rip him apart. Nell and Pesche had done all they could to save Tesla, now it was up to him to make it through. Curiosity getting the best of her, Nell's fingers crept up over Tesla's cheek and under the eyepatch covering his eye. She never found out if he simply wore that thing to resemble Nnoitra or if his eye was actually missing. Hesitantly, she tugged at the black fabric and pulled the eyepatch back, revealing a pitch black hole where his other eye should have been. Judging by a few small scars around the eye socket, that was Nnoitra's doing. Nell put the patch back in place and shook her head in disapproval, not that the quinta could see it, and even if he could he wouldn't pay much attention to what she had to say.

Once she had satisfied her curiosity, she clumsily dragged herself towards the quinta espada and sat beside him. Her eyes roamed down his torso, carefully examining the deep scars across his chest, and then wandered back to his face. He had changed a lot since the last time they saw each other. His hair was much longer, although it was still as black and lustrous as ever, despite his apparent lack of grooming. His uniform was different as well, now he wore that strange rounded hood that made him resemble an anorexic spoon, and even his weapon had double in size, with a second circular sithe adding onto the handle. However, his semblance hadn't changed in the least, his angular jaw and pronounced cheekbones were still there to provide a frame for his signature grin, his violet eye still gleamed with an unspoken deathwish when he set foot on a battlefield. His purposelessness was, unfortunately, unchanged as well. Nell brushed the tip of her finger to trace along Nnoitra's cheek and was startled when the quinta espada shifted and turned away from her touch. Mumbling something under his breath, Nnoitra stirred in his sleep before settling down again. The fromer tercera espada smiled tenderly at the lanky figure, even dozed off the quinta espada was still the Nnoitra she remembered, still foul-mouthed and rude as always and for some reason, the soft spot she had for him remained unaffected. He looked exceptionally peaceful in this deep slumber, his sharply delineated features slightly softened. His murderous look was almost replaced with a thoughtful frown. Well, it was still murderous, but for the quinta espada, slightly less ferocious than usual would count as cute and soft.

A few strands of hair had broken loose and were now draped across Nnoitra's face, which Nell set out to corect. With the utmost care, almost as if she were afraid that he might wake up, her fingers combed aside one by one all the silky locks into their rightful place, and then moved on to drift over the dust pink scar that now split his face in half. It would eventually go away, but it was bizarre to feel Nnoitra's smooth ivory skin tainted with the rough scar tissue. All circumstances considered, the whole situation had a particularly bizarre tint around it all. The usually proud quinta espada now was in a state of absolute defenselessness leaving Nell free to do with him as she pleased. She let her fingers roam and hover over his battered eyepatch, and felt saddened that his eye had been replaced with that hollow hole. He was the only being she could remember with violet eyes, especially with such a deep amethyst shade, and felt saddened that the only time she could look at it was in the midst of battle. A somber shadow crossed her semblance as her hand drifted down his neck and onto the deep reddened scars that now decorated his lean torso. Those would most definitely leave a mark. A pang of shame made itself known, overwhelming her sweet expression, and decided it would be best to leave him to rest alone, even if he wasn't aware of her presence. With another melancholic sigh she stood up and straightened herself before making her exit, not without one last look over her shoulder at the sleeping Nnoitra on the floor.

Time had gone by faster than she thought, Pesche and Dondochakka were nowhere to be found. They would probably have left the palace and would be nonchalantly playing one of their games somewhere in the desert. Nell quietly roamed the hallowed halls of Las Noches, wondering if there was anything she could entertain herself with. Her mind was too agitated to sit and read, and she couldn't play chess on her own. Mindlessly, she found her way into Aizen's old quarters and made herself a cup of tea. She never knew where he got water from, it was simply stored in glass bottles behind a door. Still aimlessly wandering, she walked past Grimmjow's quarters and noticed the sexta espada was no longer sleeping in his bed. When she had walked past before, he was passed out, draped over the mattress as if someone had flopped him like an old coat on a chair. Out of pure boredom she set out to look for him.

* * *

At last, after an exhaustive search through the endless corridors and rooms, Nell discovered the glimpse of a blue haired figure sitting on top of one of Aizen's red pillars under the indoor desert. With a swift movement, she effortlessly leaped out of the closest window towards the sexta espada. She hurried, but didn't use her sonido, her regular running pace would do just fine. With one last impulse, she leaped, rising just slightly above the flat top of the column, landing with an inaudible thud.

"Hey."

"Yo." - Grimmjow tilted his head and briefly glanced at her over his shoulder. - "Should'tcha be with yer fraccion?"

"They're out playing, they'll be fine."

"Ya sure? Nnoitra might wake up any minute." - Nelliel got the impression that Grimmjow had a vague idea of the events that transpired between the two of them - "Tha's if they don't find a stronger hollow out hunting first."

"They'll be fine." - She repeated firmly.

"'Kay."

Awkwardly Nell paced forward, dumbfounded and second guessing her choice to seek out the sexta espada. They never coincided when serving Aizen, and the only time they had been in the same room was when Ichigo had been there. She watched him with curious eyes as he thoroughly sharpened his glistening blade. Pantera was indeed an impressive sword, just as his resurrection was. Unlike the quinta espada, the sexta seemed capable of being calm around her, much to Nell's relief. She didn't want both of the surviving espada in the palace to be constantly trying to kill her. Not that they could, but it still annoyed her to have to be dodging attacks all day.

"So, watcha doing here?"

"Nothing."

Grimmjow interrupted his sharpening and stared blankly at her.

"I had nothing to do and since Pesche and Dondochakka are out...well...I'm here." - She replied while Grimmjow continued to stare unamusedly at her - "I can go if you want to be alone."

Grimmjow resumed sharpening Pantera, the metallic sounds resonating beneath the dome.

" 'ts fine, I don' mind." - He replied quietly - "Nelliel, was it?"

Nell noded.

"Nell's fine, though."

"Hmm."

The sexta didn't seem interested, still focused on his blade. He halted his movement to set the sword at his side, opposite from where she sat as his eyes fixed themselves on the horizon, as if pondering something.

"Yer that chick Nnoitra tried to kill, ain't ya?" - Nell's expression shot into a wide-eyed look of disbelief, she never thought Nnoitra would talk about her like that. She didn't think he would even bother mentioning her name at all.

"Something like that, yes. Did he tell you about what happened?"

"Nah, Szayel did."

"Oh."

"Freak liked ta push Nnoitra's buttons. Thought it was funny er sumthin'."

"Yep, he was strange to say the least…" - Nell was curious about Nnoitra's thoughts on what happened - "So Nnoitra never said anything?"

"Nah, I asked after Szayel told me, all tha' got me was this." - Grimmjow pointed at a small mark on his left arm - "Fuckin' freak tried to break my arm."

"He tried to break your arm?"

"Well, he broke it."

"Oh I'm sorry… Nnoitra can be difficult like that."

"Meh, not yer fault. Idiot's an asshole outta fun." - Grimmjow snickered and grinned. Nnoitra was an asshole, but something about it made him all the more enticing. Had Nnoitra been a gentleman he would have never laid eyes on the lanky espada.

"Still."

Nell felt a shadow of guilt grow in her mind. Someone got hurt because of her. It saddened her that the quinta espada had such a difficult personality. The sexta espada, however, seemed cheerful. Even recalling an event where his arm was broken, it made him smile briefly. His concentration seemed to drift off somewhere else.

Grimmjow had shut out the world and got lost in his own little bubble. Despite the many arguments and brawls with his superior, they had fun together. Annoying each other was a sort of passtime for both of them, even if neither one would ever admit to it. There was a cynically kind side to Nnoitra, it was only a matter of patience to get it out of him. It was indeed a special type of patience since handling the taller man's tantrums could be exhausting.

"So you and him…"

"Huh?" - Nell's voice brought him back to reality.

"You and Nnoitra...you're…" - She was reluctant to imagine Nnoitra getting close to anyone. Maybe out of concern, maybe out of petty jealousy, she wasn't sure.

"Oh!" - Grimmjow was surprised at the question, no one had ever dared ask if him and the quinto were together - "Nah, 's not like tha', it's...well, complicated."

"I see."

"We're not _dating_ , if tha's what yer askin'." - He emphasized the dating bit, if only to clarify the mutual lack of feelings between the two espada - "Hell, I dunno, it's weird."

Nelliel chuckled, and eventually it turned into a full on burst of laughter, which only served to antagonize Grimmjow. This girl was indeed something, first she had the guts to ask about his personal life and then she laughs about it? But he understood why Nnoitra had noticed her, and why he had feelings for her. The quinto never said a word and any mention of that girl would send him into a blind rage, but Grimmjow was sharp enough to realise that his reaction was simply an admission of his feelings. All things considered, the green haired arrancar wasn't as terrible as the sexta pictured her.

Nelliel finally got over her outburst and dried a tear off the corner of her eye as her smile shined under the sun.

"Anyway, I'm off ta train. That damn shinigami insists on not dyin' an' I can't have tha'."

"Do you need a hand? I still don't have anything to do." - The sweet look that always seemed to accompany her came back to her eyes.

"Sure. Le's see whatcha got, tercera."

Grimmjow grinned and leaped off the edge of the column, down below onto the wasteland while Nell chuckled and promptly followed him.

* * *

Sooooo this is taking a lot longer than I expected :S I wanted to be further down along the story by now, but uni has kept me busy (sorry!) but I'm hoping that I'll have chapter 3 by next week ^_^

Edit: I've been re reading the chapter and I forgot to mention that there's an implied Grimmjow x Nnoitra, which is not a mistake, it does have a back story and all, just doesn't appear in this story :S


End file.
